LliiV^r.' 



F 
1038 



WHAT CAUSE!) THE DEPOUTATION 



OF THE AOADIANS? 



liV 



JAMES PHINNEY BAXTER. 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




diss ^io?,^ 
Book . ^~b5 



SMITHSONIAN DKPOSIT. 



WHAT CAUSED THE DEPORTATION 



OF THE ACADIANS? 



BY 



JAMES PHINNEY BAXTER. 



^ ^ JM PEOC c,7)INGS of the AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY, AT THE 

Semi-Annual Meetin'J, April 26, 1899. 



Waxemtx, Pa;S!S., m. ^, §t. 

PKESS OF CHARLES HAMILTON, 

311 MAIN STREET. 

1899. 



J'' 



WHAT CAUSED THE DEPORTATION^ OF THE 
ACADIANS? 



It seems safe to observe that all historical analyses require 
documentary evidence to satisfy the critical spirit of the 
present age. In such analyses, the imaginative faculty is 
not permitted to enjoy the scope which was once accorded 
it, and the writer who overlooks this incurs grave responsi- 
bilities. An author, however, is not to be held to too 
severe account for missing evidence. He may use due 
diligence in seeking it, and yet miss valuable matter to 
which access is diiEcult, or unknown to him ; nay, it 
happens, that one's very familiarity with a subject some- 
times renders him oblivious to an important detail close 
at hand ; hence one should be chary in ascribing lapses of 
this sort to wilful oversight. 

Again, it seems safe to observe, that in estimating the 
moral contents of an act of the past, we should take into 
account the difference between the standards then and now 
employed, as well as the social conditions and political 
exigencies of the time. 

These reflections have been prompted by a late severe 
arraignment of certain historical workers, one of whom is 
no less than the late Francis Parkman of happy memory, 
who in treating of the Acadians, is accused not only of 
wilfully misrepresenting and distorting facts, but of ma- 
liciously suppressing evidence in their favor, in order to 
streno-then the case of his Ens^lish forebears.^ Little did 
the author of " Evangeline " realize, when he penned that 



Vide Acadia, i\rew York, Home Book Company; Montreal, John Lovell & Son. 



admirable poem, that he was creating history ; and yet very 
many persons, probably a majority of our people, take 
their history of the Acadians from that poetic fiction, just 
as a considerable number of people take their theology 
from the "Paradise Lost." Such persons will be likely to 
listen approvingly to a writer who is in accord with them, 
and disapprovingly to one who presents the other side of 
the case ; and yet, there is another side. 

To approximate a reasonable understanding of all that 
was involved in the deportation of the Acadians, we should 
go back to the year 1713, that memorable year in which, 
by the Treaty of Utrecht, Acadia was ceded to Great Britain. 
The cession of Acadia was but an incident in the great 
struggle between principles which had been in conflict for 
centuries, and which had drenched battle-fields with blood. 
The spirit of universal dominion has always been the inspi- 
ration of the Koman Church. When the Roman Empire 
changed her name to the Holy Roman Empire she did not 
change her spirit, but as ever demanded unquestioning 
obedience to her power. She it was who dominated the 
French court, directed statesmanship and shaped diplomacy ; 
and she it was who kept alive the fires of war in Europe 
and on this continent, that she might finally bring the na- 
tions to her foot-stool. Sometimes she won, sometimes 
she lost, but she never dreamed of giving up the contest. 
Rome was eternal ; monarchs, nations even, temporary. 
She had lost now, but the animosities, racial, religious, 
and irreconcilable, survived, smouldering but ready to 
break forth whenever conditions should become favorable. 
The vanquished government sullenly withdrew to Isle 
Royale, and there set up its imperium, while the victor took 
possession of its prize, which it was not long permitted to 
enjoy in peace. 

England had succeeded in removing to a distance the 
governmental machiner}^ by which France had exercised 
control of the ceded territory, but not of the instrumen- 



talities through which Rome exercised power therein ; and 
she, allied to France by a common interest, — the desire for 
dominion, — furnished an ever read_y means to her ally to 
recoup herself as far as possible for her losses. There was 
peace between the two crowns, so far as ink and wax went, 
but no farther, for French emissaries at once began to 
foment trouble by inciting the savages to make war upon 
their Eno-lish neig-hbors. These emissaries were Eomish 
priests, whose pernicious efforts not only caused gi'eat suf- 
fering and loss of life to the pioneer settlers, English and 
French, but the final deportation of the Acadians, an act 
which has been held up to the world as one of unwarranta- 
ble and inexcusable cruelty. The criticism which this act 
has received, admitting it to have been cruel, is a distinct 
compliment to the English. Those who enjoy a reputation 
for righteousness are alone criticised for failing to conform 
strictly to righteous standards. France has almost escaped 
censure for acts far exceeding in cruelty the deporta- 
tion of the Acadians, although she did not have the 
warrant of necessity to offer in defence of her action, 
Avhich England did. 

In 1689 the French monarch gave his sanction to a plot, 
which, had it not been defeated by English brawn, would 
have shocked the world for all time. This plot, carefully 
formulated at Versailles, was to make an initial attack upon 
Albany, and having captured that place, to proceed down 
the Hudson with two war ships to attack New York and 
force its surrender. Once in possession of New York, the 
rootino; out of the heretic English colonists would be feasi- 
ble. Their homes were to be broken up, and they scat- 
tered abroad. Those who possessed wealth Avere to be 
imprisoned until they were willing to exchange it for lib- 
ert}^ Artisans were to be held as captives and forced to 
labor for their French masters. Subjects of Rome, of 
course, if any were found among the heretical colonists, 
were to be exempt from these hard conditions, and were to 



6 

be protected and fostered. This diabolical scheme, involv- 
ing the destruction of an entire people, numbering accord- 
inof to statistics over seventeen thousand souls, was intrusted 
to Frontenac for execution, and we know how ardently he 
entered upon his task, and how siguall}^ he failed in its 
accomplishment, though he inflicted suffering and death 
upon many English colonists. The same pitiless spirit was 
exhibited in the laws against those who failed to bow in 
unquestioning obedience to Rome, which disrupted fami- 
lies, and sent men and women, "without form or figure of 
trial," to the galleys or prisons, where they quickly suc- 
cumbed to the hardships to which they were subjected. 

It was for the release by the French king of one hundred 
and thirty-nine galley-slaves, whose onl}^ offence was that 
their Christianity was not Roman, that Queen Anne, shortly 
after the signing the Treaty of Utrecht, in return for the 
favor which she had solicited, granted certain privileges to 
the Acadians within the territory which she had acquired. 
The indefensible attitude of the French toward Protestants 
must be fully recognized in order to interpret correctly the 
acts of the English in their dealings with the problems which 
they encountered after assuming rule in Acadia. 

Nicholson, the English governor, had hardly settled his 
military family in the new territory, when Yaudreuil, the 
governor of New France, WTote to the French minister at 
Versailles, quoting from Father de la Chasse, a Romish mis- 
sionary, that " temporal interest serves as a vehicle of faith " 
with the savages, and that a war between them and the 
English " is more favorable to us than peace " ; hence " tem- 
poral interest" was to be directed to this end. This was 
the key-note to French policy, and from that moment, as 
well in peace as in war, no effort was spared to render the 
tenure of the English precarious, not only in Acadia, but 
elsewhere in America, by fomenting trouble between them 
and the savages, and by preventing the people in the ceded 
territory from rendering allegiance to the English crown. 



When we consider the state of feeling which existed in 
France toward Protestants, who were regarded as beyond 
the pale of mercy, and with whom it was not deemed neces- 
sary to keep faith, we cease to wonder at the methods 
employed by French missionaries, reared in a school of 
intolerance, the intensity of which we can in this age hardly 
realize. By a law enacted in the reign of Louis XIV., two 
years after the date of the Treaty of Utrecht, a person not 
accepting in his last illness the Roman sacrament, was 
regarded as a relapsed person, whose body might be dragged 
through the streets on a hurdle and " consigned as the refuse 
of the earth to the filth of the common sewer," while his 
property was subject to confiscation by the State. The 
penalty for preaching Christianity unsanctioned by Rome 
was death, and the children of Protestant marriages were 
declared illemtimate. The men who were educated under 
such laws, and who believed them to be divinely sanctioned, 
could not be expected to hesitate in the performance of any 
act calculated to rid the land of heretics, and they did not 
do so. Their correspondence, in connection with that of 
the French government, fully reveals the part they played 
during the period of forty-two years, which constitutes the 
history of Acadia from the date of its cession to the Eng- 
lish in April, 1713, to the beginning of the deportation of 
its inhabitants in August, 1755. 

To understand the subject clearly, we should first take 
note of the fact, that by the terms of the Treaty the Aca- 
dians were to " have liberty to remove themselves within 
one year to any other place, as they shall think fit, with 
all their movable effects " ; but that those who remained 
and became British subjects, were " to enjoy the free exer- 
cise of their relio-ion according to the usage of the Church 
of Rome," but subject to British law. If they did not 
depart within the specified time, that is, before the close 
of August, 1714, they forfeited their right under the 
Treaty to depart. Were they prevented during this period 



8 

from departing? It would appear that they took steps 
immediately to ascertain what aid they would receive from 
the French government if they removed to Isle Eoyale, 
and that they were not satisfied with the terms offered ; 
that the nature of the soil was such as to disincline them 
to leave their old homes. This caused delay. Finally, 
however, land was offered them on Prince Edward Island, 
which was more acceptable, and they applied for leave to 
remove there, to Lieutenant-Governor Vetch, who was in 
command at Port Royal during the absence of Nicholson, 
who was soon expected to return, and Vetch referred the 
matter to his superior's decision. Nicholson returned some 
weeks before the expiration of the year, and was met by 
agents of the French Government, who asked, as it was 
then too late in th^ season for the Acadians to establish 
themselves in the new territory, to extend the time of their 
removal a year longer, and to permit them to construct 
vessels for the transportation of their effects, and to receive 
the outfit they would require from France. Nicholson 
properly referred this proposal, as it involved a question 
of commercial privilege, to the queen, who died before 
receiving it, and the matter failed to be acted upon. It 
would appear that Nicholson, who was governor for four 
years, as well as his subordinates, viewed with alarm the 
entire abandonment of the country by the inhabitants, 
and that they were not disposed to aid them at all in the 
project ; nay, that they were inclined to throw obstacles in 
the way of its accomplishment, as it would leave the coun- 
try bare of producers, and render still more insecure their 
position in the country, unsatisfactory enough at the best. 
That they did not exhibit a more self-sacrificing spirit, 
and without reg-ard to their own welfare did not aid the 
emissaries of France in their efforts to get their credulous 
dependents out of the country, so that no suspicion of non- 
compliance with the exact spirit of the treaty on the part 
of any British officer could possibly be entertained by a 



9 

modern critic, is doubtless to be regretted ; yet, Avhen we 
consider the wily, treacherous and pitiless foes against 
whom the English were struggling, as well as the moral 
code existing at the time, we may well hesitate to judge 
them by the more finely adjusted standards of today. 

The question of the removal of the Acadians by the 
terms of the treaty to French territory being practically 
settled, although some of them departed from time to time 
and joined their fellow-countrymen at Isle Roy ale and 
elsewhere, the question of their status under the English 
o-overnment is to be considered. To all intents and pur- 
poses, by not removing from the country within the period 
specified in the treaty for removal, no matter what influ- 
ences prevailed to prevent them from so doing, they be- 
came the subjects of Great Britain and amenable to her 
laws; indeed, everything shows that they so regarded 
themselves, though they refused to take the regular oath 
of allegiance, except with the reservation that they should 
not be called upon to bear arms. We may regard them, 
therefore, as British subjects, in the sense that they were 
subject to her laws and entitled to her protection, and 
were bound in good faith not to aid or abet her enemies. 

It would seem from the testimony which we possess, 
that they were a peaceable people, densely ignorant and 
superstitious, as the hahitans of Canada are today, though 
we may properly infer much more so, as the latter have 
for a long time been more or less in contact with educa- 
tional influences. They were precisely the kind of people 
to make the best Roman subjects, and were so regarded 
by their old rulers, who were bound to use them to the 
extent of their power against those under whose sway they 
had come. Their misfortune was in listening to the emis- 
saries sent among them by their former masters, and refus- 
ing to win the confidence of the government under which 
they were living, by frankly taking the oath of allegiance 
to it. 



10 

As before said, although France and England were at 
peace, efforts to render the position of the English insecure 
were begun very soon after the cession of Acadia to them. 
On July 10th, 1715, the King wrote to Ramesay and 
Begon, that he heard with satisfaction of the work of the 
missionaries among the savages, and that "as it is impor- 
tant to preserve them in the interests of the King, his 
Majesty desires that the Sieurs de Ramesay and Begon 
should incite these missionaries to redouble their efforts 
to that end, and to enquire if it may not be proper to 
attract them b}^ new benefits and destroy in the English 
all hope of drawing them to their interests." 

On December 24, 1715, the French minister wrote to 
Beauharnois from Versailles, " Since I have learned. Sir, 
of the loss that you have made of Acadia, I think contin- 
uall}^ of the means whereby this important post may be 
recovered before the English are firmly established there." 
The intrigues of the missionaries resulted in inflaming the 
savages with hate of the heretic English, and on September 
6th following, Vaudreuil had the satisfaction of writing to 
the French minister, that "the Abnakis, the past year, 
1715, have taken from the English more than twenty 
fishing vessels," and that he had promised to build them a 
church. He also said that one of his principal efforts had 
been " to maintain peace with the savages and to hinder 
them as much as possible from going to the English to 
traffic." This could only be done by making them pres- 
ents every year, and he hoped " that his majesty will be 
willing to send this year to Canada thirty thousand livres 
of presents for the savages, and to continue to send every 
year those that it is customary to give them." He sug- 
gested that " thirt}^ thousand weight of powder, sixty 
thousand of lead and six hundred hunting guns " be sent. 
" The latter are known to the savao-es who want no others 
but those of Tulle." They use "from twenty to twenty- 
five thousand weight of powder annually." In his report 



11 

to the government the 14th of the following month he 
remarked that " the Abnakis, Micmacs and Malecites, and 
others in the missions of the Jesuit fathers, Rale and 
Lovard, remain on the sea coast, but they declare that 
upon the slightest rupture, they will be on the side of the 
French," The correspondence of the period reveals un- 
ceasing efforts on the part of the French to influence the 
savages against the English, 

On October 29th, 1720, Father Charlevoix sent a memoir 
to the Duke of Orleans explaining the situation of affairs 
which had l)een brought about between the savages and 
the English. Several savage chiefs appeared before Vau- 
dreuil and enquired if he would openly help them against 
the English. "I will engage," said the wily Frenchman, 
"the other savage nations to assist you." At these words 
they replied, with a mocking laugh, " Know that we and 
all the nations of this great continent whenever we wish 
will unite to drive out all strangers, whoever they may be." 
Vaudreuil, surprised, and realizing that they must be 
appeased, exclaimed dramatically, " that rather than aban- 
don them to the mercy of the English he would march 
himself to their relief." Continuing, Charlevoix compla- 
cently says, "Monsieur Vaudreuil affirms that he has a 
trusted man among the savages of Norridgewock, who is 
wholly devoted to him, and b}^ whose means, he will make 
the others do all that he may wish. Those who know the 
savages better are convinced that he should not trust to 
this. Monsieur Begon, on the other hand, is of the 
opinion that it is necessary that some rattle brain of a 
savage should strike the English a blow that leads to war," 

The efforts of the French to arouse the enmity of the 
savages against them soon became known to the English. 
Not onh" was the garrison which held Port Royal, the 
gateway of Acadia, constantly menaced by the savages, 
but the settlements in New England were scouro^ed by 
them. The French supplied them with guns and ammuni- 



12 

tion, and instructed them that the land was theirs, and 
that they should drive out the English intruders. French 
officers disguised as savages led them in their reprisals 
upon the settlers. While Vaudeuil and his associates were 
writing polite letters to the English authorities, they were 
urging their emissaries to inflame the savages against them. 
On March 13, 1721, letters from Vaudreuil and Begon, 
addressed to Rale, the French governor's " trusted man " 
at Norridgewock, having been captured by the English, 
Governor Shute addressed the Lords of Trade as follows : 

" My Lords : 

"In my Letter of the loth December last to the Rt Honble 
Board, I tooke the liberty to hint to your Lordships that I 
had good reason to Suspect that Mons'r Vaudreuil, the 
Governor of Canada did Underhand stir up my Neighbor- 
ing Indians to Maletreat His Majesty's liege Subjects. 

" The Inclosed Letters will give plain Demonstration that 
my Suspicions were well Grounded. I have only sent your 
Lordships well attested Copys, not daring to send the origi- 
nals, and run the risque of the Sea without direct Orders 
from home so to do. 

" I shall take the liberty to remarke to Your Lordships, 
that these Letters were found in Mons'r Rale's House, a 
ffrench Jesuite who constantly resides among my Neigh- 
boring Indians & is Useing his Utmost Indeavours to En- 

o'ao-e them in a War ao-ainst the English 

The Indians have lately killed some of our Cattle & threaten 
our Eastern Settlements, So that I am Under some Appre- 
hension that a War will break out this Summer (which I 
Avill Indeavour if possible to prevent) Except some Meas- 
ures be taken to oblige the ffrench Government at Canada 
to Act Strictly up to the Stipulations agreed to betwixt the 
Crowns of Great Brittain & France." 

The following daj^ he addressed a forcible and manly 
letter to Vaudreuil, informing him of the letters in his pos- 
session, and appealing to him to desist from his treacherous 
and cruel proceedings. He did not do this, however, and 
the result was an Indian war, with all its attendant cruel- 



13 

ties ; a war for which the emissaries of France, in the livery 
of Rome, were wholly responsible. 

While the French were thus laboring to keep alive the 
fires of war between the savages and their English neigh- 
bors, they were not idle in Acadia. They fully realized 
the advantages which they possessed in having a people 
occupying English territory who were bound to them by 
ties of blood and sympathy. Every effort was made by 
the priests who were sent among these "neutrals," as they 
were called, to hold them to the interests of France, and to 
prevent them from becoming anything more than nominal 
subjects of Great Britain. 

In 1715 Lieutenant-Governor Caulfield commanded in 
Acadia. As the time for the departure of the inhabitants, 
under the treaty, had expired, steps were taken to admin- 
ister the oath of allegiance to those remaining, but without 
success. The inhabitants of Mines and Beaubassin flatly 
refused to take the oath, giving as an excuse that they " had 
made engagement to return under the rule of the King of 
France." At Port Royal, however, they offered to take an 
oath to maintain allegiance to Great Britain while they 
remained in the country, provided they should be permitted 
to depart at any time without hindrance. 

At this time Pere Gaulin was acting as missionary at 
Port Royal. Through his hands passed the presents to the 
savages, and by his advice the Acadians acted. He was 
intensely inimical to the English, and ready to do anything 
to cause them discomfort. He had, before the peace, which 
resulted in the cession of Acadia to the English, gathered 
a considerable body of men against them before Annapolis 
Royal, to which he laid unsuccessful siege. He was a man 
full of resources, and unscrupulous, if we may believe the 
French governor of Louisbourg, who rendered him sub- 
stantial aid on that occasion. Such a man was bound to 
prevent the people, if possible, from becoming loyal sub- 
jects to a nation against whom he was hostile to the core. 



14 

He had taught the savages " to assert their native rights " 
to the ceded territory, and he was equally ready to teach 
the Acadian French to refuse to take the oath of allegiance 
to Great Britain, which it was necessary that they should 
take, if they expected to enjoy her confidence and protec- 
tion. Five years after Lieutenant-Governor Caulfield's 
attempt to make them take this oath. General Phillips made 
another attempt, and we find Pere Gaulin acting on the 
occasion as their spokesman. His majesty, he said, was 
very good to interest himself in their affairs, but that the 
proposal meant nothing less than a violation of their oath 
before Governor Nicholson, and that they wished to remain 
faithful to their word without changing anything, because 
if they modified its terms, it would expose them to the 
resentment and vengeance of the savages. This subterfuge, 
for it was nothing less, was understood by the English, as 
appears by the minutes of the Council, September 27th, 
1720— 

"That the French inhabitants do persist in refusing to 
take the oath of allegiance to the Crown of Great Britain, 
and look upon themselves as the indispensable liege sub- 
jects of France, by the engagement they have laid them- 
selves under, and from which their Priests tell them they 
cannot be absolved. . . . That these inhabitants and 
the Indians are entirely influenced and guided by the Gov- 
ernment of Cape Breton, and the missionary Priests resid- 
ing among them." 

This condition of affairs caused the Lords Commissioners 
for Trade and Plantations to address a memorial to the 
King, in which they said that the Acadians, who have 
remained in the province since the cession, "are entirely in 
the French interest, and by their communication and inter- 
marriao;es with the neiffhbourino- Indians, have stained them 
to their party ; whereby they are enabled upon any occa- 
sion to engage the said Indians in a war against your 
Majesty's subjects — that the little trade derived in this 
country at present is entirely in the hands of these French 



15 

inhabitants — For which reason, as well as many others, it 
is absolutely necessary for your Majesty's Service that 
these French inhabitants should be removed." This was in 
1721, and is the key-note of the movement, which resulted 
in the deportation of this unhappy people more than thirty 
years later. 

It is plain that this deportation was no hasty affair, and 
that it might have been averted at any time, had it not been 
for the cruel policy of the missionaries, which prevented 
the Acadians from taking the only step possible to avert it. 
One of the most active of these in the earl}^ history of the 
Acadians, was Pere Gaulin ; "that old, mischievous incen- 
diary," as he was denominated by Lieutenant-Governor 
Doucett. In one of Doucett's reports to the Lords of 
Trade, he says that "a good deal of plunder" taken from 
the English in 1722, was in his chapel, "when he was there 
to say mass to the Indians." On another occasion, says 
Mascarene, he received the ransom of English soldiers 
captured by his savages, and it is recorded of him in mem- 
oranda of the French Council, that he was "a brave man 
and capable of organizing and even conducting " the savages 
"on an expedition." In the same document it is recom- 
mended that instead of " 300 livres " which he was receiv- 
ing, he "might be granted 500 livres on the Staff." In 
1727, Louis XV., having received an erroneous report that 
Gaulin had advised the savages to make peace with the 
English, informed St, Ovide of the report, and ordered 
him to continue to "encourage hostilities." To this St. 
Ovide replied that " so far from M. Gaulin and the other 
missionaries having prevailed upon the Indians to do so, 
that they had, on the contrary, incurred the displeasure of 
the Eno'lish for havino; incited the Indians to continue the 
war." Another of these missionaries was St. Poncy, who, 
if we ma}^ believe the report of Pere Maillard to his supe- 
rior, " adroitly intercepted " letters of the English Gover- 
nor, which fact, he says, " has been reported to us by those 



16 

who were charged with the convej'^ance of these letters." 
Of Le Loutre, so much has ah^eady been written, that it is 
unnecessar}^ to detail the career of this restless plotter of 
mischief, as it is of others who were engaged in the same 
business. A single instance of his cruelty we ma}^ be par- 
doned for quoting. Says Knox, who was his contempo- 
rary, " he left a most remarkable character behind him in 
Nova Scotia for inhumanity, insomuch that a sentinel who 
had been placed over him (and had formerlj^ the misfor- 
tune, when in a regiment stationed in that country, of being 
his prisoner, and was miraculously preserved from being 
scalped alive, to which cruel fate he had been doomed by 
this same Priest, who marked him with a knife round the 
forehead and pole in order to strip off the entire scalp) 
and, recollecting his face, unfixed his bayonet, with an 
intent, as he midauntedly confessed, to put him to death, 
had he not been with the greatest difficulty prevented from 
executing what he called a just vengeance on him. The 
soldier's resentment was so great, and he appearing before 
the Commander-in-Chief so determined, that it was thought 
necessary to remove him to England, and exchange him 
into another corps." 

These men continued their work incessantly during the 
long peace which existed between France and England from 
1713 to 1744, when the two nations again came into con- 
flict. Mascarene, who has been greatly extolled for his 
kind and wise government of Acadia, had been in command 
for a number of years, and so continued through the war, 
which terminated in 1748. It has been attempted to show 
that Mascarene always regarded the Acadians as loyal and 
obedient subjects of Great Britain. Such, however, was 
not the case. Early in his experience with them he says, 
"The French who, like any new conquered people, were 
glad to flatter themselves with the hope of recovering what 
they had lost, saw with a great deal of satisfaction our moat 
walls every day tumbling down, our hospitals filling with 



17 

sick soldiers, — and thought no doubt no less than to oblige 
us to relinquish the fort and to fall under their national 
government again. About this time they dispatch't almost 
unknown to us the ' priest ' from Manis to Canada with an 
account as may be supposed of all this." Later, he says, 
after the garrison had sustained a loss, "The French after 
this changed their countenance at once, and of humble and 
in appearance obedient, turn'd haughty and imperious, and 
threaten'd no less than to take us by assault and put every 
one of us ^ to the edge of the sword.' " And to show how 
he regarded the situation at the close of the war in 1748, 
when he retired from his office, the following extracts are 
made from his report : 

"It has appeared very plain to all on this side, that if the 
French when at Lewisbourg, had carried their point and 
master'd this Province, the addition of strength they would 
have acquired in gaining four or five thousand French In- 
habitants able to carr}^ arms, join'd to the several Tribes of 
Indians, who to a man are all at their Devotion, and a 
Country able to supply them with Provisions, they would 
in less than a year have overrun the Governments of New 
England. Those from Canada have since the taking of 
Lewisbourg, made two or three attempts in expectation of 
ships and Troops from France, to carry on the same scheme 
in which they have been disappointed. The cessation of 
arms, and the Peace like to ensue will for the present put 
an end to their projects, but as they are to have Lewisbourg 
restored to them, a few years will put them in the same 
Posture they were at the beginning of the War, and if an- 
other occasion offers, they may renew their Projects, and 
by the experience they have had from their former miscar- 
Hages, they will take better measures to render them more 
successful. . . . From whence it appears how neces- 
sary it is to put this Province on a better Foot than it has 
been or is at present. One of the greatest inconveniences 
it labours under is in having a large number of Inhabitants, 
who cannot be reckon'd to be attach'd to the British Inter- 
est ; and though they have been kept from joining the Ene- 
my in Arms, it cannot be depended upon but that they may 



18 

do so at some other time. The difficulty of removing them 
lias been represented in the Letter addressed to Governor 
Shirley the 7th Dec'r 1745, and which I had the honour to 
transmit to your Lordships, and to which I humbly refer. 
To counterballance the Deadweight of these French Inhabit- 
ants, a Number of British Famil^^s might be settled on the 
Eastern Coast of this Peninsula." 

Even the kind and benevolent Mascarene had considered 
the question of deportation ten years before it was begun, 
and when he had ended with them, had no confidence in 
their fidelity, although he had been able to keep them from 
open acts of disloyalty. He was evidently so well pleased 
with his success in this regard, that, whenever possible, he 
took occasion to report that the}^ were submissive and 
peaceable. The correspondence of the period, French and 
English, reveals without a shadow of doubt how the French 
" Neutrals," so called, were regarded by both peoples, and 
it is idle to ignore their opinion. Vaudreuil on November 
10, 1720, wrote "that the French at Port Royal were well 
disposed to throw off the yoke of the English," and we 
have seen how Mascarene regarded them. 

Says Secretary Sherriff in March, 1745, "We are in 
Danger not only from Old France, but even from that our 
Neighbouring Province, if our Inhabitants are not re- 
moved." 

Says Shirley May 10, 1746. "I am persuaded nothing 
has hinder'd the Acadians from taking up Arms against his 
Majesty's Garrison at Annapolis, but the Terror which the 
frequent Visits of the arm'd Vessels and Succours sent from 
this Place — struck 'em with." 

Similar quotations might be almost indefinitely multi- 
plied, but these are perhaps sufficient. The question is 
pressed, as though it established the status of the loyalty 
of the Acadians to Great Britain, whj^ did they not join 
the French expeditions sent among them to expel the 
English ? The answer is not far to seek ; Shirley in fact 



19 

has answered it. They did not dare to. The French had 
abandoned them once to the English, and they distrusted 
their power to protect them, while they had a wholesome 
respect for English push and tenacit3\ Of the feeling 
among the conquered people against the English, Knox 
gives us a glimpse. He says, " Though the better sort of 
them generally behaved with tolerable decency, yet the 
poorer sort — being employed as servants and workmen — 
took frequent occasions (which, however, never passed 
unpunished) of being impertinent in displaying the fruits 
of the good education they had received, for, in driving a 
team of oxen, if an Officer or other British subject passed 
them on the street or road, they instantly called out to 
their cattle, by names of Luther, Calvin, Cronmer (mean- 
ing Cranmer) &c., and then laid most unmercifully on the 
poor beasts with their whips or clubs, as if they had in 
reality got those eminent men under their hands." 

In 1748 the war between France and England, which 
had lasted for four years, came to a close, and a treaty 
was signed at Aix-la-Chapelle, by which Louisbourg and 
other territory captured by the English in the war were 
restored to France. This was a grave mistake on the 
part of England, and caused much irritation in New Eng- 
land, whose frontier settlements had grievously suffered 
from the savao-es, who had been instigated to make war 
upon them by French emissaries ; indeed, the people of 
New England never forgave Enoiand for restoring to their 
inveterate enemy the strongly fortified city, considered 
almost impregnable, which had been forced to yield to the 
valor of their troops. 

Acadia remained, as it had for thirty-six years, a province 
of Great Britain, but its boundaries were still sufficiently 
undefined to give rise to conflicting claims hy both English 
and French. To offset the power of her rival, the seat of 
whose power was Louisbourg, England founded Halifax 
and planted there, in the summer of 1749, a colony of 



20 

about three thousand persons, well equipped in all that 
was necessary for the establishment of a stable govern- 
ment. 

Governor Cornwallis, who had succeeded Mascarene, de- 
termined to exact from the Acadians the oath of allegiance 
which they had so long refused to take, and he immedi- 
ately issued a proclamation commanding the people to 
appear within a given time and take the oath. This they 
refused to do, and declared that rather than take it they 
would leave the countrj^ This reply greatly irritated 
Cornwallis, and he dismissed them with harsh words. 
From this time the secret hostility which had always 
existed between the English on the one hand and the 
Acadians and savages on the other, continued to increase, 
and frequently displayed itself in acts of violence. The 
Abbe Le Loutre, who has already been mentioned, proved 
to be a terrible foe to the English, and fomented trouble 
to the extent of his ability. 

In 1752 Cornwallis was succeeded by General Hopson, 
who evidently exerted himself to establish peace among 
the discordant elements by which he was surrounded. 
The liberal policy of Hopson had its effect, and some of 
the Acadians who had left the country petitioned to be 
allowed to return, but stated in their petition that they 
could not take the oath of alleo-iance, alleo-ing the old 
excuse that their refusal to do so was caused by fear of the 
savages. Just how far this excuse was really true is 
questionable ; it certainly served its purpose for a time. 

Unfortunately, perhaps, for the Acadians, Hopson's 
mild rule came to an end in 1753, and Lawrence, a man of 
a different type, succeeded to the government. Lawi"ence 
was an active, energetic man, a good soldier, and one who 
believed in obedience to authority. Alluding, just after 
his assumption of office, to the status before the courts of 
the Acadians, he says : "The French emissaries still con- 
tinue to perplex them with difficulties about their taking 



21 

the oath of allegiance." He was determined, however, to 
bring the unsatisfactory relations which had so long existed 
between them and the government to an end. He was 
satisfied that the onl}^ way for England ever to hold her 
possessions securely was to colonize the country with her 
own people, and to make the French inhabitants take the 
oath of allegiance or displace them. He was a soldier, 
and fully realized the danger of sending these people to 
swell the ranks of the enemj^ On August 1st, 1754, he 
wrote the Lords of Trade, setting forth the condition of 
affairs, and in this letter, speaking of the Acadians, de- 
clares it as his opinion, " that it would be much better, if 
they refuse the oath, that they were away." Can we 
wonder at this opinion ? For more than forty years they 
had baffled the attempts of the English governors to make 
of them loyal subjects. The situation was one full of 
perplexities. War was likely to break out at any time 
between France and England, and here was a rapidly 
increasing population, which even if it were not an active 
ally of the enemy, would at least be, as Mascarene de- 
clared it to be, "a dead weight " to the government. At a 
council held at Halifax, July 3rd, 1755, the final test of 
loj^alty was placed before the deputies who represented the 
Acadians. They were asked to show the proof of their 
fidelity to the government, which they had affirmed, 
by taking the oath of allegiance. This they declined 
to do. They were informed that for "Six Years past 
the same thing had been often proposed to them, 
and had been as often evaded under various frivol- 
ous pretences, that they had often l)een informed 
that some time or other it would be required of 
them and must be done, and that the Council did not 
doubt that they knew the Sentiments of the Inhabitants in 
general, and had fully considered and determined this 
point with regard to themselves before now, as they had 
already been indulged with six Years to form a Resolution 



22 

thereon." Their request to return home and consult theii 
constituents further on the subject was refused, and they 
were told that they must now finally decide whether they 
would or would not take the oath. They again refused, 
and were allowed until the next morning to form a final 
resolution. On the next morning they appeared before 
the Council, and upon their refusal to take the oath, were 
informed that they were no longer British subjects, and 
would be treated as subjects of France. Orders were 
given to direct the Acadians to send new deputies in their 
behalf with "regard to Taking the Oath, and that none of 
them should for the future be admitted to Take it after 
having once refused to." The deputies who had already 
refused to take the oath here relented and offered to take 
it, but were refused the privilege. In spite of this, on the 
25th of Jul}^ the new deputies appeared before the Council 
at Halifax, bringing the final answer of the inhabitants, 
that they refused to take the oath of allegiance, though 
they declared their fidelity to Great Britain. This final 
refusal decided their fate, and La^A^-ence, on the 11th of 
August, wrote to the other governors in America, detailing 
what he had done and proposed to do. In this letter he 
states that they had unanimously refused to take the oath, 
and he asks " if they wou'd presume to do this when there 
is a large Fleet of Ships of War in the Harbour and a con- 
siderable land force in the Province, what might not we 
expect from them when the approaching Winter deprives 
us of the former, and when the troops which are only 
hired from New England occasionally, and for a small time, 
have returned home ? * * * As their numbers amount 
to near Seven thousand Persons, the driving them off with 
leave to go whither they pleased, wou'd have doubtless 
strengthened Canada with so Considerable a Number of 
Inhabitants, and as they have no cleared land to give them 
at present, such as were able to bear Arms must have been 
immediatel}^ employed in annoying this and the Neighbour- 



23 

ing Colonies. To prevent such an inconvenience it was 
judged as necessary, and the only practicable measure to 
divide them among the Colonies, where they may be of 
some use as most of them are healthy and strong People." 
This was the plan that was carried out. The governors of 
the Colonies, however, for the most part were not pleased 
with this arrangement, and refused to provide for their 
residence among them. This, of course, caused much suf- 
fering among them, and many of them wandered about, 
jfinding no settled place of abode. Many finally found 
their way back to their French kinsmen. 

This dispersion of the Acadians has been characterized 
as an act of cruelty surpassing in atrocity anything ever 
done by the French, not excepting the Massacre of St. 
Bartholomew, or the wholesale burnings of Protestants. 
This is, of course, exaggeration. That it was an act of 
cruelty is admitted. The question is, was it necessary? 
The English were in a precarious position, face to face 
with a treacherous enemy, French and savage, with a sub- 
ject population hostile to them at heart, and liable at any 
time from inactive lookers-on to become active enemies. 
The situation described cannot be questioned. It is possi- 
ble that if they had not sent away the Acadians, they 
might have finally completed the conquest of the country, 
but this we have no right to affirm. It is certain that 
many of the wisest and most patriotic among them re- 
garded the removal of the Acadians and the colonization 
of the country left vacant by them, as a necessity. It has 
even been asked if it would not have been better for Eng- 
land and the English race if the scheme of deportation had 
been extended. 

The Acadians have been depicted by some writers as 
having been a people quite above the common passions of 
mankind; living "an idjdlic life" of simplicity, purity 
and freedom from guile ; loving and lovable. The truth 
is, that we shall find their counterpart in the French 



24 

habitans of today. In Vol. 284 of Nova Scotia Docu- 
ments, under the title, " Observations on the Progress of 
Agriculture in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, with 
notices of Acadian manners and customs, in a project of 
Moses de la Dernier, Esq.," they are thus described : 

"The former inhabitants, the Acadians who were settled 
before us on the different rivers which empty in the Bay 
of Fundy, had many difficulties to encounter — being 
ignorant of the natin-e and fertility of these valuable 
Marshes — but so soon as they acquired the knowledge 
of their great production of all sorts of Grain, and the 
facility of Obtaining Great Crops with little Labour, They 
gave up the cultivation of the upland to that degree as to 
make no use of their manure, and also chose to remove 
their barns and Hovels, rather than cart it away. They 
were so ignorant of the true principles of Husbandry that 
in the course of a century and a half the}^ neither made 
cheese nor butter that was merchantable, and not having 
any knowledge of trade and commerce and no emulation 
or animation, but full of Bigotry and superstition, they 
disdained to avail themselves of Instructions which they 
might have had from Strangers, who settled from time to 
time among them — They did not labour more than half 
their time, the other half being chiefly taken up by their 
holidaj^s." 

This writer was much nearer them in point of time 
than we are ; but that the}^ are fairly represented by 
the habitans of today is declared by Joseph Guillaume 
Barthe, membre de ITnstitut Canadien, in his remarkable 
book, "Le Canada Reconquis par la France." "In spite," 
he proudly says, "of two centuries of foreign domination 
and unheard of efforts put forth by the new possessors to 
assimilate the inhabitants of the conquered country, the 
French of Canada always preserve the same language of 
their fathers, the same religion, the same customs, the 
same kind of life." And he asks, "What more does one 



25 

want for the resemblance? " Here we have the key to the 
whole matter. From the beginning they have been taught 
by their priests to preserve their habits and customs, their 
traditions and folk-lore, and, above all, their language and 
fealty to France and to Eome. They have had constantly 
kept before their eyes the picture of a new epoch, with 
France the holy son of Eome crowned with the laurel of 
victory, and dispensing to them with a lavish hand the 
treasures of which they have been despoiled by the heretic 
usurper, who lies prone under the iron heel of the im- 
perious victor. This vision is as bright today as it was 
to the poor Acadians in the time of Gaulin and St. Poncy 
and Le Loutre. The Ancien Regime is to be again 
restored, and New France is to rule not only the domain 
of which England has despoiled her, but New England as 
well, and who knows how far beyond her bounds ? This 
dream seems almost too wild for sane men to entertain, 
but it is entertained as a matter of faith ; indeed, it has 
become a dogma and is tenaciously adhered to even by 
men regarded as wise. 

Some time ago the papers of New Orleans gave a report 
of a lecture by a prominent lawyer of that city, delivered 
to a French association. In this lecture the bald declara- 
tion was made that the French people were to be restored 
to their ancient rights to this continent. The fecundity of 
the French people was dwelt upon, and attention was 
drawn to the increasing sterility of the Anglo-Saxons, 
which, it was stated, would in time give the French a 
numerical superiority. The enthusiastic speaker urged 
his hearers to maintain their ancient traditions, their 
habits and customs, and, above all, their language and 
religion. They were advised to keep their children 
out of the English schools, and to maintain schools of 
their own everywhere. Money, he said, was being lib- 
erally supplied by their kinsmen in France to maintain 
such schools, in which loyalty to French ideas must be 



26 

taught. They were admonished to mamtain ever bright 
the fires of loyalty to France. He told them that in 
New England the good work of French colonization was 
spreading, and that in Louisiana the promise of future 
French domination was good. He advised his hearers not 
to permit their children to contract marriages with the 
English, but to keep themselves a separate people in every 
respect and to use the English language only when obliged 
to use it. These sentiments are only too common in 
Canada. At a recent meeting of the Royal Society of 
Canada at Montreal were several members of French ex- 
traction, but at the same time English subjects, as their 
ancestors for several generations had been. To the sur- 
prise of some of the American delegates, their papers were 
in the French language, although the audience was mostly 
English. The president, who was English, at the close of 
one of these papers, quietly but pleasantly remarked that 
the paper was interesting, but would have been more so if 
it had been in English. The rebuke was not sufficiently 
pointed, as many doubtless felt. Here were men who had 
been born and bred under the free and beneficent rule of 
England. To her broad and liberal institutions they owed 
a debt of gratitude which they could never repay, and yet 
they deliberately emphasized the fact that they were still 
French, and prided themselves in being so. We cannot 
understand this intense loyalty to a foreign power until we 
find its source in the religious teaching of these people. 
From the day of England's acquisition of the country they 
have been taught that her rule was to be temporary, and 
that Providence was at last to restore to France her 
ancient dominions. Rome, whom Cardinal Gibbons him- 
self declares is ruled by "a bureau of administrators," and 
whom Victor Charbonel, in his late letter to the Pope 
relinquishing his clerical office, so fittingly denominates 
"an ecclesiastical organization, which uses religion for 
skillful administration, makes it a domineering power, a 



27 

means of social and intellectual oppression, a system of 
intolerance," has sedulously fostered this wild dream, in 
order to herself hold the people in subjection to her 
dictates. Bartlie, whose book, "Canada Reconquered by 
France," has alread}^ been quoted, after rejoicing in the 
fact that the French under British rule have never changed, 
thus effervesces : " New Hebrews by the rivers of Babylon, 
they ardently aspire to return to that family from which 
they have been grievously separated by the exigencies of 
inexorable politics. Their only way of salvation in this 
terrible alternative, at least for the moment, is to solicit 
and obtain the patronage of the ancient metropolis, Avhich, 
by diverting to them a part of its superfluous population, 
will enable them in a measure to counterbalance and live 
on the same footing of equality with the ever increasing 
English emigration, thus aiding them in repressing the 
American invasion. Later, Eternal Providence, who 
watches over the progress and liberty of all people or- 
phaned or disinherited, and who when they have attained 
their majority, or the fullness of their strength, cries in 
their ears these all powerful words, 'arise and walk, be- 
cause thou hast no more need of tutelage, and because 
thou also hast the right of sitting at the common feast,' 
later, we say, Eternal Providence will achieve for Canada 
complete emancipation." His closing words are equally 
remarkable, and we may add one more brief quotation. 
" Behold," he cries, " O France, our worth ! Behold what 
we have done to remain faithful. For thee, it now is, to 
decide if we shall be punished for this fidelity by a com- 
plete abandonment ; if we shall be disowned by thee, be- 
cause Destiny has torn us from thy arms ; if we shall be 
forgotten because misfortune has in some small deoree 
altered our resemblance. Then wouldst thou be less o-en- 
erous than Joseph sold by his brethren, who recognized 
them in the day of his prosperity, and surely it is not we 
who have sold thee." Then follow certain "Pieces Justifi- 



28 

catives," or Proofs, showing what steps have been already 
taken to reconnect the bonds of sympathy with France. 
It is difficult for an American or an Englishman to believe 
that the author of this book is serious, yet he has been 
accepted by Frenchmen in Canada and France as voicing 
the advanced sentiments of Frenchmen on both continents ; 
indeed, as prophetic of the future restoration to power of 
New France, more resplendent in glory than ever. As 
has been said, it is difficult for one in whose veins cir- 
culates the temperate blood of the Anglo-Saxon to take 
these utterances as serious ; but this difficulty vanishes 
when we consider the character of some of the publications 
which are circulated among the French operatives in our 
New England factory towns and their kinsmen over the 
border. 

Take but one of these publications of the better sort, 
The Bethelem^ a monthly illustrated magazine, published 
in several languages and devoted to the interests of St. 
Anthony, who is its patron. In its columns are advertised 
certain "holy industries," some of which are the sale of 
rosaries, chaplets, crosier beads and "memorial lists of the 
poor souls in Purgatory," all of which are "enriched" with 
various indulgences. 

The department devoted to correspondents is filled with 
responses from all parts of the Union, which are painful 
to read, as they indicate that the minds of the writers are 
as clouded with superstition as if they belonged to the 
middle ages instead of the Nineteenth Century.^ This is 
only alluded to in order to refresh our memories respect- 
ing the kind of teaching which the Acadians received, and 
as a reminder of what their descendants a century and a half 
later are receiving, and it is unwise for a modern author 



1 Thus one man sends a gift because through the Saint's help he has been enabled 
to purchase a piece of property at a price desired, and another because he has sold 
his house at a good price. A woman contributes for the benefit of the Souls in 
Purgatory because the Saint has procured work for her husband and son, and 
others for various services rendered by the Saint. 



29 

to contend that the Acadians, ignorant and superstitious, 
and practised upon by such inventions as have been men- 
tioned, were independent of their teachers, and followed 
untrammelled the dictates of their own judgments in 
refusing to become loyal English citizens. 

When we consider the case of these poor people, of 
families forcibly removed from their homes, often sepa- 
rated, and compelled to wander in exile, suffering want, 
and always unwelcome guests, we may well shed tears of 
sympathy for them ; and knowing their character, how 
simple and ignorant and stubborn they were, how firm 
their belief in the value of merit resulting from obedience 
to the teachings of their missionaries, we need not wonder 
that they went blindly on, through physical inconvenience 
and suffering, to attain a reward commensurate therewith ; 
and this, it may be reasonably affirmed, and not English 
trickery and cruelty, as has been asserted, caused the 
deportation of the Acadians. 






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